Imamu Amiri Baraka\'s \"Dutchman\" is a play rooted in symbolism. It can be traced throughout the entire play: the language, the setting, the plot, the movement, the dialogue, and even the title. Baraka does a good job intertwining both the realistic and symbolic in effort to get his theme across....

While reading the September 1999 issue of Social Work: Journal of the National Association of Social Workers, I came across an article entitled "Symbolic Interactionism, African American Families and the Transracial Adoption Controversy". It was written by Leslie Doty Hollingsworth PhD, the assist...

Ralph Ellison\'s \"Battle Royal\" is symbolic of the African American struggle for equality after the abolition of slavery. The various hardships that the narrator must endure in his quest to deliver his speech represent the many hardships that the blacks went through in their fight for equality. Th...

There are many symbols in Ralph Ellison's story "Battle Royal." Ellison's story is full of excellent symbolism of how African-Americans have struggled throughout history to fight for their equality. The narrator starts off the story by describing his grandfather's dying ...

Ralph Ellison wrote Invisible Man in 1952, when the post-modern writing style dominated American literature. Post-modernism is displayed in this novel by several metaphors that literally and symbolically challenge Emersonian and Whitmanian models, which consider social equality for all beings in Am...

The Negro Speaks of Rivers: An Analysis Langston Hughes, a poet in the early twentieth century is known for his poems about urban life and racial affirmation. In the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Hughes tells a story of the black man's evolution to America. The poem illustrate...

Beloved By Toni Morrison Dear Toni, Your novel Beloved evokes a tremendous amount of emotion from its readers. The various stylistic techniques enable the reader to see beyond the twisted story. Your use of stream of conscientiousness, symbolism, and characterization bring forth a wel...

The theme of the story " As I Grew Older" by Langston Hughes is, no matter what stands in your way fight for your dream. Hughes showcases the fact that racism and discrimination can hold African Americans back from accomplishing their dreams but, through the struggles they can triumph ove...

Many writers enjoy writing about the human psyche. The story "The Child by Tiger", by Thomas Wolfe, is about an African American servant who initially seems to be very skillful and moral but who turns out to be very vengeful, consequently shooting up the town. People can have a hidden side ...

The character of Radio Raheem, played by Bill Nunn, in Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing is meant to symbolize anger in the face of oppression. It is the Radio Raheem character, who seems to wander in and out of several key scenes in the film, who ultimately sparks the violence that leads t...

Invisible Man is a story told through the eyes of the narrator, a Black man struggling in a White culture. The narrative starts during his college days where he works hard and earns respect from the administration. Dr. Bledsoe, the prominent Black administrator of his school, becomes his ...

A Childs SafetyThe "Ballad of Birmingham" wrote by Dudley Randall was about a church that was bombed in 1963. This ballad was wrote by an African American man who was forty-nine years old when the bombing occurred. This ballad features irony, symbolism, and discrimination.It is very ironic that th...

The film "Pleasantville" portrays the changes that have occurred in American society over the past 50 years. The movie describes changes in sexual relations, violence, and family matters and roles. Viewers are shown how the racial and sexual equality began. It shows there is no "pe...

"Everyday Use" is set in the late 60's or early 70's. During a time which African Americans were struggling to define their personal identities in cultural terms. Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Dee/Wangero and Maggie's differences are emphasized by their v...

The poem "Incident," by Countee Cullen, is one that could be described as a piece of Lyric Poetry. This is because it is a short poem that focuses in on the emotion of the poem, not the speaker or the event as much. Cullen shows how the happy feelings at the beginning of the poem change ...

The lady that appears after the first 100 pages of the book turns out to be Vivian, Grant's secret lover. Grant and Vivian take a walk and after their walk they visit Grant's aunt, aunt Emma. Aunt Emma and her friends are very fond of Vivian and they give her many compliments. Aunt...

The Confederate Flag Controversy It is my opinion that the Confederate flag be left on the Confederate Soldier's monument on capitol grounds after being removed from the South Carolina State house. I feel that the NAACP, and many other groups, have completely withdrawn the southerner&apo...

Faith Ringgold’s \"God Bless America\" is an expression of the emotional and physical torment of black Americans prior to and during the Civil Rights Movement. This piece of art movement had a lot of cultural ties to the population during the 1960’s that also can be applied today in the year 200...

History in Langston Hughes's "Negro" The topic of Langston Hughes's "Negro" deals with an extremely general description of the history of African Americans or blacks from the pre-1922 era until 1922. Hughes lets the reader know about historic experiences of blacks to show us the impact ...

Can a bird symbolize all social outcast?Can a mocking bird really represent a society that is exiled during this period of time? For example Mr. Tom Robison who was nothing more than a black person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time be really punished for a crime that he really didn't com...

James B. Lane's article "Underground to manhood: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man" has many important points. All of these points connect to the theme of the "Invisible Man", the search for the identity. The article discusses such issues as Ellison's use of symbolis...

Incorporating jazz music with the lives of African-Americans during the 1920's, Toni Morrison's Jazz is a wonderful story about slavery and spirituality. Jazz is an extension of Morrison's previous novel, Beloved, which was about the lives of African Americans during the late 1800&apo...

Elizabeth Catlett is a famous African American artist. Catlett was born in 1919 in Washington D.C. Her grandparents were former slaves. Catlett\'s grandparents were freed from slavery, and after they were freed they decided that they wanted better lives for their children. Catlett created artwork...

Controversy On The Beach 1 A big issue in the South today has arisen from the confederate battle flag that was used during the Civil War. Many people argue that the battle flag should fly across the southern states. In Harrison County, Mississippi there has been controversy...

Commentary on Langston Hughes Poem: Let America Be America Again According to a poem written by Langston Hughes tilted "Let America Be America Again," he addresses the plight of America. He focuses his attention on the deferred dreams of those who dare to believe in the principles of equ...